Three organisations involved in the observation process for long-awaited elections in Somaliland have welcomed the announcement of provisional results in the presidential poll, held on 26 June 2010.
The Somaliland National Electorial Commission’s (NEC) findings – which are not yet final – indicate that Mr Ahmed Silanyo of the Kulmiye party has won the election, defeating the incumbent, President Dahir Riyale Kahin of the UDUB party and Mr Faisal Ali Waarabe of the UCID party.
The UK-based organisations (international development organisation, Progressio, the Development Planning Unit at University College London and Somaliland Focus) were invited by the NEC in January 2009 to act as coordinators of the international observation mission for the election in the internationally-unrecognised republic.
In a statement issued on 1 July 2010, they declared: "The mission congratulates Mr Ahmed Silanyo and the Kulmiye party and extends its best wishes to President Riyale for his many years of service to Somaliland, and for the dignity and leadership he has shown during his years in office. In particular, the mission commends his statesmanship over the past 24 hours. Congratulations are also due to Mr Faisal, and indeed to all the candidates, for their adherence to the democratic process in Somaliland.
"Despite the many delays in the run-up to the election, the mission would like to point out that the days prior to polling day – and polling day itself – were notable for their spirit of peacefulness and goodwill. The election observation mission hopes that the same spirit will prevail in the days leading up to the confirmation of the final result and beyond. It is hoped, too, that Somaliland’s political leaders, and their supporters, accept the final results, as they have pledged to do.
"The observation mission believes any other course of action would be detrimental to the welfare of Somaliland’s people and the nation’s democratic future. The mission looks forward to being able to pass its final judgement on the Somaliland 2010 presidential election in its final election report."
Progressio is the former Catholic Institute for International Relations.
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/12529
Somaliland opposition head wins presidential poll
Thu Jul 1, 2010
* Opposition chief had been widely expected to win
* Incumbent manages only third of vote
* Supreme Court has to endorse results
By Hussein Ali Noor
HARGEISA, Somalia, July 1 (Reuters) - Opposition leader Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo has won presidential elections in the breakaway Somali enclave of Somaliland, as had been widely expected, electoral authorities said on Thursday.
The head of the opposition Tulmiye (Unity) party had 49.59 percent of all votes cast while President Dahir Rayale Kahin's party had 33.23 percent, the National Election Commission said.
The Justice and Welfare party was third with 17.18 percent of the vote and has conceded defeat.
There were 1.09 million registered voters in the region of 3.5 million people, and 538,000 valid votes were cast.
"This is an important election for the people of Somaliland. It is also one more step toward the democratisation of the country," Essa Yusuf Mohammed, NEC chairman, said in announcing the results.
"The election was free and fair as witnessed by the international observers and this is a step that will lead to the recognition of the country."
Somaliland, colonised by Britain while the rest of Somalia was under Italian administration, declared independence in 1991 as the remainder of the country disintegrated into anarchy.
Despite its relative stability and the establishment of democratic institutions, Somaliland has yet to be recognised internationally but hopes a smooth transition of power would help its international image. The Supreme Court must endorse the results within 15 days and the incumbent president hand over within 30 days.
Silanyo lost to Kahin by a 80 votes during the last poll in 2003. An election scheduled for 2008 had been postponed thrice because of agreements over the number of registered voters.
International observers said the election had been free and fair despite some irregularities, such as the ruling party using public funds, state media and vehicles for its campaign.
Four people were killed in skirmishes at several voting stations in disputed areas along the border with neighbouring Puntland, a semi-autonomous region of Somalia, on election on June 26.
Somaliland wants to extricate itself from the more violent south where at least 21,000 people have been killed in a raging insurgency against a weak Western-backed government since the begin of 2007.
Opposition candidate wins Somaliland election
By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN (AP) – July 1, 2010
HARGEISA, Somalia — An opposition candidate won the presidential vote held in the self-declared republic of Somaliland last weekend, election officials said Thursday.
Ahmed Mohamud Silanyo has said he hopes the presidential election will help win Somaliland international recognition. The National Electoral Commission of Somaliland declared Silanyo the winner with 49.6 percent of the vote.
The region's outgoing president, Dahir Riyale Kahin, came in second out of three candidates. Kahin said he would honor a pre-vote pledge to accept the results even if he lost.
Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia in 1991 and has been a haven of relative peace in northwest Somalia as southern Somalia has degenerated into chaos and anarchy. The region has its own security and police forces, justice system and currency, but is not recognized by any other state.
Echoing the three candidates, residents in Somaliland also said they hoped the vote would win more respect for the region and maintain the peace that has eluded southern Somalia since the 1991 ouster of longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre by warlords.
Somaliland's second presidential election was frequently delayed. It was first scheduled for 2008, and then for 2009 before taking place on Saturday.
A voting-day skirmish killed four people in a contested area of Somaliland but the vote was otherwise peaceful. A militia from the neighboring Puntland region tried to raid a polling station in an area claimed by Somaliland and Puntland.
The International Republican Institute, a U.S. observer group, said it found few voting irregularities in the region.
Opposition leader elected Somaliland president
(AFP) – July 1, 2010
HARGEISA — An opposition leader has been elected president of Somalia's breakaway republic of Somaliland in weekend polls held in defiance of Islamist threats, the region's electoral panel said Thursday.
Ahmed Mohamud Silaanyo, who heads the Kulmiye party, won nearly 50 percent of the votes cast in Saturday's polls, defeating president Dahir Riyale Kahin who garnered around 33 percent of the vote.
"Kulmiye opposition leader, Ahmed Mohamud Silaanyo, won 49.94 of the votes in Somaliland presidential election, therefore he is the president," the National Election Commission chairman Issa Mohamud said.
Silaanyo's party also holds a parliamentary majority following recent legislative elections.
Earlier Thursday, Kahin said he would step down and hand over power peacefully if he was defeated.
"If I lose the election I will hand over responsibility in a very... democratic way," Kahin told reporters.
The elections were conducted peacefully without violence or instances of suspected fraud, winning praise from observers.
Somaliland's borders were closed during the vote and large security contingents deployed amid fears of attacks by the Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab operating in neighbouring Somalia.
Somaliland seceded from the rest of Somalia in 1991 four months after the overthrow of president Mohamed Siad Barre and has been striving to gain international recognition.
Voters in the northern Somalia region saw the elections as a fresh opportunity to demonstrate their aspiring state's democratic credentials.
The region has been spared much of the violence that has ravaged rump Somalia, where an Islamist insurgency is battling to overthrow the Western-backed government of President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
Kulmiye party is confirmed to have won in the presidential elections.
HARGEYSA (Sunatimes) An introductory result about the presidential elections in the breakaway republic of Somaliland which Sunatimes received from the electoral commission says that opposition party of Kulmiye currently exceeds in the elections.
According to counting votes in the ballot stations, Kulmiye won 266,906 votes making 49.59% as the ruling part of Udub receives 178,081 votes worth with 33.32% while Ucid got 92,459 votes which make 17.18%.
Some reports say the owner of Dahabshil money Transfer Company Mohamed Saed Duale offered two million dollars to Kulmiye as Duale is the same clan with Kulmiye leader Ahmed Silanyo.
The victory of Kulmiye for the elections in the unrecognized republic of Somaliland will throw suspicion into the reliance by the neighboring countries like Ethiopia and Djibouti towards defending the regional security.
Some political analysts believe that Kulmiye party has in connection with the Al-Shabaab militant group in the southern Somalia.
The outgoing government led by President Dahir Riyale paid its strength in to the intelligence service for the national security arresting key members of Al-Shabaab.
Somaliland leader says will step down if loses polls
(AFP) – July 1, 2010
HARGEISA — The president of Somalia's self-declared Somaliland state said Thursday he would step down if he was defeated in presidential polls held at the weekend.
Dahir Riyale Kahin had faced strong challenges from two opposition candidates in Saturday's elections in the northern breakaway region striving for international recognition.
"If I lose the election I will hand over responsibility in a very... democratic way," Kahin told reporters.
The elections were conducted peacefully without violence or instances of suspected fraud.
Somaliland seceded from the rest of Somalia in 1991 four months after the overthrow of president Mohamed Siad Barre.
Former British officer votes in Somaliland election
HARGEISA (Somalilandpress-1 July 2010) — On Saturday, June 26th, more than a million Somalilanders including a former British officer queued for hours to cast their historical vote on the historical day.
People either camped over night or rocked to the polling sight as early as 3a.m. amid fears of Al Shabab threats. Most people wanted to be first on the queue and get out as quick as possible before al Shabab militants hid among the large crowds.
Among those people queuing up were former World War II British army officer and author, John Drysdale, who arrived in Somaliland in 1943 in his teen. He served along side Somaliland soldiers during WWII in Burma and Singapore. He returned back to Africa after the defeat of the Nazi regime in Germany and Japan to serve in the British Colonial Service and the Foreign Service where he carried out assignments in Ghana (then the Gold Coast) and in Mogadishu (now under British control with the defeat of Italy).
He became an advisor to three Somali Prime Ministers in post independence Somalia and to three successive UN special envoys to Somalia during the 1992-1993.
Mr Drysdale is regarded as an expert on Somalis including the Somali literature, history, culture and the people. He is an accomplished speaker of Somali.
His work on Somalia which includes The Somali Dispute (1964), Somali The Peninsula and Whatever Happened to Somalia (1994) has became a standard reference works on the Somali people and their politics.
During his long career as diplomat, businessman, and publisher, Drysdale has been a prolific writer and analyst of political events in Africa and Southeast Asia.
Mr Drysdale founded and edited the Africa Research Bulletin in Britain and the Asia Research Bulletin in Singapore in collaboration with the Straits Times Group.
He also founded the Asean Economic Quarterly in Singapore. His book Singapore: Struggle for Success is a recommended reading for all young Singaporeans. Returning to Somaliland in mid 1990s, Mr Drysdale worked as an advisor to the Somaliland government under the late President Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal for sometime before setting up his own land survey NGO, Cadastral Surveys. Cadastral Surveys has been surveying and mapping hitherto non-existent farm boundaries in the Gabiley and Dilla districts of south-west Somaliland.
In 2009, Mr Drysdale wore a special Islamic hat to pledge allegiance to the holy Qur’an in a ceremony held in Hargeisa’s main Mosque and changed his name completely to Abbas Idris (Enoch). He took Somaliland citizenship a short time later.
This year he made history by becoming the first British born to vote in Somaliland election which fell on the exact day when Somaliland gained it’s independence from Great Britain 50 years ago.
Mr Dyrsdale/Idris said he was happy to be part of Somaliland’s election. “Today I am here to be part of Somaliland’s democracy and to cast my vote freely. I am extremely happy to see so many of the public who came out to vote. This marks a turning point for Somaliland in the sense that it could make a great progress in the right direction. As a result, I have voted since I’m a citizen,” he told Haatuf newspaper while casting his vote in Hargeisa.
Mr Drysdale maintains strong contact with his family and friends back in UK and Singapore but is at peace with himself in Somaliland and might be his final home.
More than a million voted on Saturday’s historical vote and the National Electoral Commission is expected to announce the final result on Saturday.